ODU Cruises Past Morgan State (79-48) for 27th Straight at Home

NORFOLK, Va. – Five Monarchs scored in double figures as the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (3-0) extended the nation’s fifth longest home win streak to 27 in a 79-48 rout over Morgan State (0-3) on Wednesday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU’s Aaron Bacote (5-5 FT) led all scorers with 22 to go along with three rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes of work.

Old Dominion held the Bears to 22.2% shooting in the second half and 34.8% for the contest. The Monarchs connected on 92.9% (13-14) of their free-throw attempts on the night. The Monarchs held advantages for points in the paint (51-16), rebounding (42-25) and assists (14-7) for the ballgame.

Denzell Taylor (6-8 FG) provided ODU with a double-double consisting of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while blocking two shots. Nik Biberaj went off for career-highs of 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a team-high 30 minutes. Trey Freeman netted 11 points, while hauling down seven boards and dishing out two assists. Also in double-figures for Old Dominion was true freshman Ahmad Caver, who went 2-3 from deep, 4-4 from the charity stripe in a 10-point and three assists performance.

Old Dominion used an 11-0 run (5-6 FG) over a 1:19 span to jump out to an early 13-9 advantage at the 14:15 mark of the opening half. The Monarchs then went on a 14-2 run in just over four and a half minutes to take a 34-22 lead with 5:13 remaining in the first half.

ODU led 46-29 at the half, behind 12 points from Denzell Taylor (six rebounds), 10 points from Aaron Bacote and nine points from Trey Freeman. The Monarchs held a 29-14 advantage for points in the paint, a 23-12 advantage for rebounds and a 10-5 advantage for assists. Old Dominion connected on all eight free-throw attempts in the opening 20 minutes, while the Bears hit 1-2.

The Monarchs utilized a 12-1 run to open the second half, claiming a 58-30 lead in the process. A Martin Shaw dunk gave Old Dominion a 67-40 advantage at the 8:40 mark of the second half. ODU held its largest lead of the contest of 33 with 3:31 to play, before cruising to the 79-48 victory on Wednesday night.

Kyle Thomas led the way for Morgan State with 15 points.

NEXT UP FOR THE BASKETBALL MONARCHSWednesday night wrapped up Old Dominion’s three game home-stand to open the 2015-16 season.

On Nov. 21 and 22, the squad will trek to Uncasville, Conn. to finish competition in the 2015 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, which features a matchup with No. 21 Purdue on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN 3 and then either Florida or St. Joseph’s on Sunday (If ODU wins on Saturday, Monarchs would tipoff at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN 2 and ESPN 3; If ODU loses on Saturday, then the Monarchs would tipoff at noon on Sunday on ESPN 3).

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